2chome Doshin Ice Square

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the naming of ‘Hokkaido’. For this occasion, a commemorative birthday cake designed by Eri Fujishima is on display. Eri Fujishima, a pastry chef, is the winner of the best prize in the Marzipan division of Japan’s largest pastry contest, ‘2017 Japan Cake Show Tokyo’ (sponsored by The Federation of Japan Confectionary).

Hokkaido is a place with abundant nature inhabited by many wild animals. We wish to convey the image of a scene where the wildlife of Hokkaido is celebrating this commemorative year around the cake. You can see the sponge part of the cake representing white birch while the second layer of the cake is decorated with the symbolic flower of Hokkaido, Rugosa roses (or Japanese roses). You can also see an Ezo pika, a Hokkaido squirrel, a brown bear, a salmon, a northern red fox, a Yezo shika deer, and a long-tailed bushtit around the cake.

3chome HTB PARK AIR Square

Shiroi Koibito PARK AIR, which began in 2007 is an ‘Urban snow event’ presenting astonishing jumping sessions by both professional and amateur snowboarders and skiers. A huge jumping platform appears in Odori 3 chōme! Surly this venue is thronged with not only snowboarding enthusiasts, but also with tourists who might be seeing such an exciting show for the first time.

4chome STV Square

The series of fantasy role-playing video games, ‘Final Fantasy’ has been in development for over 30 years since its first release in Japan in 1987, and continues to fascinate large numbers of people all over the world. Among the series, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), ‘The Final Fantasy XIV’ is a mega-hit game product as the game has more than a total of 10 million registered accounts so far(※). It is rated highly in the realm of the game for its ultimate style and artistic quality, and keeps engraving its epic story in our mind while continuously evolving.

Here, the memorable scenes from the game are reconstructed as a shiny large snow sculpture entitled ‘The Final Fantasy XIV, Battle of Winter Wonderland’ at the 4 chōme venue. Construction of the snow sculpture is undertaken by the Ground Self Defense Force; the First Snow Sculpture Producing Unit who can be praised as ‘fantasista’ for their expertise. Surely, the overwhelming impact and delicate details of the snow sculpture created by their craftsmanship based on a long experience will invite all the visitors to the fantastic realm of the Final Fantasy!

What is more, the visitors can enjoy a high quality and a high-level projection mapping after dark! Fierce battle between the human and the dragon… the history of the battle finally ends at Sapporo in the snow.

※Total number of the registered accounts are counted in five regions including Japan, North America, Europe, China and South Korea. The number also includes the accounts for the free trial version.

5chome East Hureai Art Square

Legacy of Bernstein, The Pacific Music Festival [Large Snow Sculpture]

The Pacific Music Festival (PMF) is an international educational music festival, combined with an educational program featuring top musicians of the world as faculty, and fostering young musicians chosen through auditions from all parts of the globe. It is founded by the leading 20th century composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein who is known for his music featured in the musical, ‘West Side Story’. Since 1990, the PMF is held in every summer for one month in Sapporo. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Bernstein’s birth, and for this occasion, the snow sculpture with Bernstein motif will be made as one of the commemorative projects by the PMF Organizing Committee.
During the snow festival, various stage events will be held at night to introduce Bernstein’s wish for world peace and the course the PMF has followed.

5chome West Mainichi Newspapers Ice Square

The Taichung Railway Station, originally built in 1917, is a historic red-brick building. Although the railway station was extended and rebuilt afterwards, the value placed on the historical and cultural significance of the Taichung Railway Station led to the announcement by the Ministry of Interior of Taiwan to preserve the station as a historic site in 1995. By 2005, the station building was restored to the original state, and played an important role in the life of the city as a transportation hub, a city landmark, and a gateway for arriving and departing number of guests. In October 2016, the elevation work began in the area and the new railway station was built to replace the old one. Today, the old railway station, besides being a charming city landmark, stands as a part of the station facilities where people can come and go.

Between November 3, 2018 and April 24, 2019, ‘2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition’ is due to be held in three locations in Taichung City; Houli, Fengyuang and Waipu. The Taichung City, variegated with all kinds of flowers will surely be a fascinating sightseeing spot that draws attention from all over the world.

6chome Citizen’s Square

Welcome to Sapporo Snow Festival! Let’s Bring the Winter Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games to Sapporo! Let’s join the Onigiri Action 2018! [Medium-sized Snow Sculpture]

7chome HBC Sweden Square

HBC Square has been a venue to deepen international friendship and cultural exchange each year. This time, we chose Sweden for the first time to celebrate the 150th anniversary since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Sweden. Here, you can see a large sculpture of ‘The Stockholm Cathedral’ built in the thirteenth century in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm. The cathedral has reached its present shape with the clock and the bell following a large-scale extension and refurbishment works in the fourteenth century onwards. It is a historic cathedral and frequently used for major events of the royal family including the King Carl XVI Gustaf’s wedding ceremony in 1976 and the wedding ceremony of Crown Princess Victoria in 2010. In every September, members of the royal family along with members of the parliament attend the service in this cathedral after the opening of the parliament. The statue at the center of this snow sculpture is Olaus Petri (1493-1552), a theologian and a major contributor of the Protestant Reformation in Sweden who was buried beneath the pulpit in the cathedral.

This large snow sculpture expresses the fascination of the Stockholm’s oldest cathedral in one-half scale of actual size.

8chome Snow HTB Square

The Large Lecture Hall of Yakushi-ji Temple in Nara [Large Snow Sculpture]

‘The Large Lecture Hall’ (or Daikōdō) of Yakushi-ji Temple, situated in Nara will be reconstructed as a large snow sculpture during the snow festival this year. The lecture hall is a place where a number of novice Buddhist priests gather to devote themselves to their studies and discuss each other about various doctrines. Yakushi-ji Temple is an ancient Buddhist temple and also the headquarters of the Hossō school of Japanese Buddhism that was once one of the Seven Great Temples of Nanto. It was originally built in Fujiwara-kyō, Japan's capital in the Asuka period. The construction of the temple began in 680, but it was disassembled after completion and moved to the present location in 718, following the move of the capital to Heijō-kyō. Yakushi-ji Temple fell victim to fire repeatedly and most buildings of complex except the East Pagoda (Tōtō), were destroyed including the Large Lecture Hall (Daikōdō), the Golden Hall (Kondō), the West Pagoda (Saitō), the Refectory (Jikidō), the Cloister (Kairō) and the Inner Gate (Chūmon). Thereafter, restoration of the lost buildings was not carried out for a very long time. In 1968, restoration work began at last from the fund raised through the ‘Kanjin Shakyō’ (fund raising by mean of hand-copying of Sutra). Subsequently, the Large Lecture Hall was restored in 2003 following the complete restoration of the Golden Hall, the West Pagoda and the Inner Gate.

Size of the restored ‘Large Lecture Hall of Yakushi-ji Temple’ is 41 meters wide, 20 meters in depth and 17 meters high. It is larger than the principal building of Yakushi-ji Temple, the Golden Hall, and truly symbolizes the majestic Buddhist temples of Hakuhō period.

A special technique called, ‘the ice block method’ is employed to make delicate snow parts to construct this large snow sculpture in detail. It is produced by HTB (Hokkaido Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd.) in cooperation with the Ground Self Defense Force; Second Snow Sculpture Producing Unit. A total of 3,800 Self-Defense Force personnel will be working on this snow sculpture for 28 days from January 7 to February 3.

9chome Citizen’s Square

Pop-Up Pirate [Medium-sized Snow Sculpture]

A Yosakoi Soran dancing team, ‘Tesuku & Matsurinchu’ consists of the university students mainly from Hokkaido University. Under the theme ‘Pop-Up Pirate’, the team members perform Yosakoi Soran. Here, the snow sculpture, ‘Pop-Up Pirate’ expresses a toy’s view of the world.

10chome UHB Family Land

Osamu Tezuka (1928 –1989) laid the foundations of Japanese Manga culture by establishing what was known as ‘Story Manga’ through his pioneering and innovative expression methods. Year 2018 marks the 90th anniversary of his birth. Before his birthday on November 3, four of the renowned Tezuka’s characters make their appearance at the Odori site of Sapporo Snow Festival!

Here you can see; a gentle ‘Astro Boy’ who is in agony over an inner conflict as being an android; ‘Black Jack’, the genius surgeon without medical license; ‘Kimba the White Lion’ (or Jungle Emperor Leo) who grows to be an emperor of the jungle; and the young ‘Princess Sapphire’ who has to dress and behave like a young man to pretend that she is the prince.

Osamu Tezuka made more than 700 works in his life time. His works, filled with dreams and excitements, are still loved by many all over the world even 30 years after his death. Enjoy Tezuka Manga and the beginning of the anniversary year.

11chome International Square

The 45th International Snow Sculpture Contest

Twelve teams from various regions of the world will participate in this year's contest. The contest site will be filled with a variety of snow sculptures and statues.

What is Snow Miku (Hatsune Miku)?http://snowmiku.com/2018/
‘Snow Miku’ is a character who enlivens Hokkaido. Snow Miku was created as a pure white snow sculpture of ‘Hatsune Miku’ for the Sapporo Snow Festival held in 2010. Since then, ‘Snow Miku’ festival featuring ‘Snow Miku’ as a main character has been held in Hokkaido every year. The costume design has been selected in an online competition on different themes every year, and the theme for 2018 is ‘the animal with the image of Hokkaido snow.’ ‘Snow Miku’ livens up Hokkaido this winter, together with all of the creators.

12chome Citizen’s Square

Citizens’ Snow Sculptures

Come take a look at the unique snow sculptures made by citizens of Sapporo here at the Citizens' Square.